The link in the heading for each log entry provides access to the corresponding pictures in the gallery.

Day 0 – 18-Dec-2001 Surgery

Airflow	None, due to packing.
Bruising	Purpleish below both eyes, but a little more on my left side.
Bridge	Some swelling.
Detethering	Swollen and numb under the columella, with swelling and numbness diminishing toward the upper lip.
Tip	Swollen, soft, rounded, and numb. The numbness is radiates from the tip to most of the way down the nostril.

Day 1 – 19-Dec-2001

By noontime the anesthetic had mostly dissipated, and I was steady on my feet again. Between the anesthesia and Vicodin, I'm groggy most of the time. The overall sensation is being tired and having a head cold.

Airflow	None, due to packing.
Bruising	The bruising and swelling has become more noticeable, the purple/blue under the eyes is spreading more toward my eyes and away from my nose.
Bridge	The bridge is swollen but not bruised.
Detethering	No change.
Tip	Originally, my tip was a little pointy, but now it's round as all get out. It's very soft, and numb. The tip definitely is the worst area for swelling. The tip is also a little itchy, perhaps due to the stretched skin. I try to ignore the itching, or gently touch it with a tissue make the itch go away.

Day 2 – 20-Dec-2001

There is only a little discomfort when the Vicodin wears off, so I've switched to Tylenol. There must be some anesthesia still in my system because my energy level is still much lower than normal.

Airflow	Almost none. The packing has compressed, and some air has been passing through. When sleeping, just enough air was able to pass through the right nostril to create a whistling sound. Unfortunately, this whistling was high-pitched and woke me up several times during the night.
Bruising	Egads! a bright reddish purple bruising has crept up onto my eyelids. I thought that I was going to escape this, but I guess not.
Bridge	No change.
Detethering	No change.
Tip	No change, but the itching is diminishing.

Day 3 – 21-Dec-2001

Saline spray gently flushed out the what red crusties were left, there really wasn't much.

Although the bleeding had stopped for 24 hours, I taped on a drip-pad for the night. When I removed the drip pad the following morning, it was still virgin white.

This is the first day that I haven't had a drip pad in place during the day, but I slept with one at night (just in case, but it came out clean). Due to the detethering, I'm concerned about the swelling and numbness in my upper lip below the columella. When I smile a little bit, none of my upper teeth show, and it gives me a creepy appearance.

I still can't believe that I've actually had the surgery. It's almost like being in a dream, and you finally get something you've always wanted.

Airflow	After the packing was removed I could breathe fine for about an hour, then I got stuffed up with internal swelling. As the day continues, the internal swelling started to calm down. When I went to bed, I started out breathing through my mouth, but during the night, the internal swelling went down, and I returned to breathing through my nose, hooray! I never woke up with cotton-mouth, so the switch to nasal breathing must've happened shortly after I zonked out.
Bruising	This is my 3rd full day after surgery, and there is an incredible improvement in the bruising and swelling department. Compared to yesterday, I only have little bit of purple showing. What was purple is now a sickly shade of yellow. I don't know whether it's my genetic disposition, or all of the supplements I took, but it seems that I'm a fast healer (except for the bridge and tip, which are still quite big).
Bridge	No change.
Detethering	No change.
Tip	Now I understand all of the "swollen tip" messages. The size and shape of my tip hasn't budged since surgery. And, it is still quite a bit numb, and a little itchy. I hope the swelling goes down a little bit within the next week.

Day 4 – 22-Dec-2001

This the first night I didn't tape on a drip pad to catch any unexpected blood.

Airflow
Bruising	There's still a little purple bruising left, but it's not that noticeable. What was purple has turned to yellow. There's a tiny bit of swelling left in my cheeks, but nobody would notice except myself.
Bridge	No change.
Detethering	With the upper teeth not showing when I smile, is still a big concern. The is the only issue I'm worried about.
Tip	Tip swelling has gone down a tiny bit, and some feeling has returned to the area near the tip. The tip is still round and numb. Maybe the left nostril has gone down a little more than the right nostril.

Day 5 – 23-Dec-2001

Airflow	There is adequate airflow when both nostrils are mostly open, but there seems to be a little whistling when breathing in a little faster than normal.
Bruising	The yellow bruising has a hint of green.
Bridge	No change.
Detethering	Whew, when I smile I can see tiny bit of my upper teeth, not good, but at least it's a start.
Tip

Day 6 – 24-Dec-2001

Airflow	I've flushed out both nostrils with saline spray a few times today, but it only helped to relieve the congestion a little bit. Shortly after going to bed, the congestion subsided and I was able to breathe through my nose the entire night.
Bruising	The bruising is now greenish yellow. I wonder, will it be a full green for Christmas tomorrow?
Bridge	I haven't been paying close attention to the bridge, but the swelling there has come down a lot.
Detethering	When I smile I can see a little bit more of up my upper teeth. It's still not good. I think that the upper lip swelling is mostly gone except right at the base of the columella, where there is still some tenderness. When I hold the muscle tissue between my thumb an index finger, there seems to be much less muscle mass than before the surgery! It seems as though there are muscles missing that used to lift my upper lip higher. Maybe it will settle in when the tip swelling goes away.
Tip	The tip has gone down a tiny bit, and a not totally round shape is emerging.

Day 7 – 25-Dec-2001

Airflow	After a few rounds of saline spray, and doing cleaning up the blood globs with Q-tips and hydrogen peroxide, I'm getting better airflow and there is less noise due to reduced turbulence (from the blood globs). I had a good nights sleep, and the airflow is almost back to normal.
Bruising	The under-eye cheek bruising is a lighter shade of green, and the area covered had decreased a little.
Bridge	Same – minor swelling.
Detethering	There is still numbness going to the center top lip, and there is still a minor numbness in my upper 2 front teeth. There is a slight improvement in my smile.
Tip	There is a possible decrease in swelling, but it is hard to tell. I've noticed that there is a slight, very light, purpleish discoloration just to the right of my tip near above the nostril opening.

Day 8 – 26-Dec-2001 Cast removed

Airflow	Same, almost back to normal.
Bruising	There are just two light greenish yellow patches, one on each cheek below the eye. They are barely visible, I doubt anyone else would notice. They aren't really visible when I'm wearing glasses.
Bridge	Still minor swelling. Now that the cast is off, I can tell how tender the whole bridge and dorsum is.
Detethering	Still minor swelling and tenderness under the columella. Dr. Romano says that this is normal an will continue for a while. Over time, things will return to normal.
Tip	Swelling has come down a little more. When my nose is taped, the tip doesn't look nearly so round.

Day 9 – 27-Dec-2001

Airflow	Same, almost back to normal.
Bruising	The two small greenish-yellow patches on my cheeks are smaller and lighter, but still barely visible.
Bridge	Still minor swelling.
Detethering	A little of the upper lip numbness and two front teeth has gone away.
Tip	Same tip, different day.

Day 10 – 28-Dec-2001

Airflow	Same, almost back to normal.
Bruising	The two very small greenish-yellow patches on my cheeks are smaller and lighter, but still barely visible.
Bridge	Still minor swelling.
Detethering	Most of the upper lip numbness and two front teeth has gone away.
Tip	What? Could it be? Is it possible that the swelling has come down just a little and there's starting to be a little definition? Maybe...

Day 11 – 29-Dec-2001

Airflow	Same, almost back to normal.
Bruising	The two small greenish-yellow patches on my cheeks barely visible.
Bridge	Still minor swelling, but I can tell that it's some firm scar tissue under the skin. On the right side of my dorsum on the nasal bone where the crushed cartilage graft was done, there is a small bump and the skin is pink. The pink coloration comes from having my nose taped most of the time; the graft is pushing against the tape.
Detethering	The numbness in my two front teeth is gone. There is just a tiny bit of numbness at the base of the columella. This is the first day that the upper lip area is starting to feel normal. When I smile, there is enough of my upper teeth should that it doesn't look odd, but not as good as before surgery. Before surgery, my upper lip was one or two millimeters higher when smiling. There is a slight tightness in the muscle area at the base of the columella, I can tell that things haven't finished settling yet. I'm sure that my smile will reclaim its former gleam, but it's going to take time.
Tip	Swelling definitely has come down a little, but more on my left nostril side than the right nostril side. The length and width of my left nostril opening is definitely smaller than the right nostril opening.

Day 12 – 30-Dec-2001

Airflow	Same, almost back to normal.
Bruising	The two small greenish-yellow patches on my cheeks are barely visible.
Bridge	Minor swelling.
Detethering	There is a tiny bit of numbness at the base of the columella.
Tip	Maybe the swelling has come down a little.

Day 13 – 31-Dec-2001

Airflow	Reduced airflow due to some congestion.
Bruising	One small greenish-yellow patch on my cheek left cheek is barely visible.
Bridge	For the first time I noticed a tiny bump on each nasal bone between the tear duct and the dorsum. After passing my finger over the small bumps, they smooth right out.
Detethering	There is a tiny bit of numbness at the base of the columella. Better than the day before, though.
Tip	The swelling has come down a little along the dorsum down to the tip.

Day 14 – 1-Jan-2002

Airflow	Similarly to the day before, there was reduced airflow due to some congestion. It turned out not so much congestion but mucus forming and hardening in the upper nose, near the nasal bones. After periodic sprays with saline during the day, the mucus was soft enough that I could gently blow it blow it out. What a relief, I could breath normally, and with full airflow.
Bruising	One small greenish-yellow patch on my cheek left cheek, even smaller, but is still barely visible. This the last entry for bruising, because they're as good as gone.
Bridge	The two tiny bumps between the tear ducts and dorsum don't smooth out all the way. I think the swelling has gone down that I'm starting to feel scar tissue. The swelling along the dorsum, from the bridge to the supra tip has come down a tiny bit. A few days ago, it looked like I had a big nose. Now, it starting to be more in scale with my face.
Detethering	No change.
Tip	No change.

Week 3 – 8-Jan-2002

Airflow	There is occasional congestion that comes and goes during the day. It lasts for a few hours at a time, and is not that bad.
Bridge	The tiny bumps from the osteotomy have decreased. General swelling around the bridge had decreased. The cartilage graft is still prominent, at least it's a smooth bump.
Detethering	The is a little numbness left at the base of the columella.
Tip	The tip is still numb but, the area of numbness has decreased a little. Swelling has come down noticeable, and we've entered the beginning of tip refinement.
Other	My profile has been good since the cast came off. My frontal, however, really benefited from the decrease in swelling. My nose, in isolation, looks fine from frontal view, but the swelling accentuates the slight pull to the right, due to facial asymmetry.

Week 4 – 15-Jan-2002

Airflow	Occasional congestion continues, but is becoming less frequent. There are 2 factors contributing to reduced airflow when congestion occurs: Internal swelling – all of the internal surfaces swell lightly. Mucus build-up Dealing with the temporary internal swelling is no problem. The hardened mucus build-up is annoying. I have to use lots of saline spray to soften the mucus so I can gently blow it out.
Bridge	The tiny bumps from the osteotomy are mostly gone. General swelling around the bridge has continued to decrease. The cartilage graft has decreased a little, and almost disappears when my nose is taped. It seems as if the bone at the radix is a little swollen, or higher. Maybe because so much swelling has come down, I'm starting to notice other things. My radix was not altered, perhaps, the narrowing done makes my radix feel higher.
Detethering	The numbness at the base of the columella is gone. When I smile, my top lip is still lower than it's original position. My nose is still tight feeling, which prevents me from smiling in a totally normal fashion. With the decrease in swelling, I was hoping that my smile would be better than what it is.
Tip	Similar progress as the week before: the area of numbness has decreased a little. Swelling has come down, the tip is starting to look normal. The tip is firm, but not hard. I've been taping my nose on a daily basis. The very tip of the nose is not taped, so when I remove the tape there is a small ledge between the taped and untaped area near the tip. I don't have a supra-tip take-off but the ledge makes it looks like I do. I kind of like it. It looks like the tip has a nice shape, it just needs to shrink down. I've had a couple of days where the tip area had a background ache. The ache wasn't bad enough to take a Tylenol, though. It must be another adjustment period.
Other	It's one month post-op, and I'm in much better shape than I imagined. No one besides myself would notice remaining swelling, mostly in the tip. My profile is great, and my frontal view is good..

Week 5 – 22-Jan-2002

Airflow	The frequency and duration of congested periods has decreased. Maybe once a day I notice it. The severity of the congestion has also lessened. I'm almost back to normal.
Bridge	I can still feel the tiny osteotomy bumps above my tear ducts. The one on the right is slightly larger than the one on the left. The cartilage graft is unchanged.
Detethering	There's had been a definite improvement in my upper lip. Most of the tightness underneath the columella is gone, and the tip of my upper lip is beginning to feel more normal. Previously, it felt as if the muscle were slack, and was not responding to subtle movements while speaking. There's even a slight improvement in my smile – not totally back to normal, but good.
Tip	The swelling in the tip has come down a tiny bit, but otherwise it's the same.

Week 6 – 29-Jan-2002

Airflow	Congestion has been more frequent this week than the week before, and the intensity was a little more severe.
Bridge	The tiny osteotomy bumps above my tear ducts have gone down just a little more. The cartilage graft seems harder.
Detethering	No change.
Tip	The swelling in the tip has come down a tiny bit, or not.

Week 7 – 5-Feb-2002

Airflow	ARGH! Congestion has continued into this week, and I feel like I'm stuffed up half of the time. Even though I have a humidifier running at night, I had to get up a couple of times to use the saline spray.
Bridge	The dorsum graft has smoothed out a little bit. I'm surprised that there has been noticeable progress. I can no longer feel an osteotomy bump on my left side above the tear duct. The corresponding bump on the right side had flattened out, and I can barely feel it.
Detethering	There has been a very minor improvement in my smile.
Tip	Swelling has come down a tiny bit more in the tip, and I think that there is little edema left. My tip if firm now, and much of the sensation at the surface of the skin has returned. The scar tissue beneath the surface, however, continues to give the tip area a quasi-numb feeling. There is still some edema on both sides of the nose below the nasal bone to about half way to the outer nostril. I actually hope that the swelling in this area doesn't go down so much that it produces a pinched effect.

Week 8 – 12-Feb-2002

Airflow	Congestion has improved, but I still have to use the saline spray a couple of times a day. If I use the spray before going to bed, I don't have a problem during the night.
Bridge	I think that the dorsum cartilage graft has smoothed out a tiny bit more. I'm pleased and surprised that the bump has gone down as much as it has. The bump is hard. When I run my finger down the dorsum, the bump feels larger than it looks in the photos. I can no longer feel either of the tiny bumps on the nasal bones above the tear ducts.
Detethering	I notice an occasional tingle on the inside of my lip near the base of the columella. My smile is nearly normal. My tip is hard, so it doesn't feel totally normal when I do smile.
Tip	My columella scar is starting to fade. Perhaps the aloe vera cream I've been using for the past couple of weeks is helping.

Month 2 – 18-Feb-2002

Airflow	Congestion has improved, and I'm back to where I was 4 weeks ago. What a relief.
Bridge	I can barely feel the bump from the osteotomy on the right hand side above the tear duct.
Detethering	Again, I noticed an occasional tingle during the week at the base of the columella. While taking photos, I noticed that my smile isn't as good as the previous week, but it's still OK.
Tip	The tip has refined a tiny bit. There is just a little more swelling on the left than on the right, but it's only noticeable from below.

Month 3 – 22-Mar-2002

Airflow	Airflow has remained good over the past month. Usually, I use a Q-tip to clear out any mucus before going to bed, but not otherwise. I've been going to the gym regularly, and there isn't a congestion problem when doing non-aerobic exercises. After doing 5-10 minutes of aerobic/cardio exercise, I become congested and have to start breathing through my mouth. Dr. Romano has explained to me how the erectile tissue swells up during this exercise and blocks my nasal passage. Fortunately, a couple of minutes after doing cardio exercise, the congestion goes away.
Bridge	The bump from the crushed cartilage graft has decreased, and is not very noticeable. The bump is barely visible on my left profile, but is still visible on my right profile. The non-visible bump from the osteotomy on the right hand side above the tear duct is gone. I can barely feel the ridges from where the osteotomy was done.
Detethering	I continue to feel a tingling at the base of my columella. Dr. Romano says that this is a good sign indicating that the nerve tissue is regenerating. My smile is back to normal, with the normal amount teeth showing.
Tip	By comparison, the swelling on my left side above the nostril has become a little more noticeable than that on my right side. The right side above the nostril has much more definition than that of the left side. The overall effect is that the area above the right nostril has more of an indentation that that of the other side. The tip area has gained more sensitivity. There is still some numbness in the tip and supra-tip area. The tip is still very firm, but has picked up a tiny bit of flexibility.
Other	I have continued taping my nose every night. Although the improvement in the crushed cartilage graft and my smile is small in absolute terms, it makes a great difference to me. At this point, the outward appearance is fine as it is. I hope continuing changes are only for the better.

Month 4 – 18-Apr-2002

Airflow	Airflow has remained the same, good. Most nights, I've continued to use a Q-tip to clear out any mucus before going to bed. When doing cardio exercise, the insides of my nose continue to swell up, forcing me to breathe through my mouth. However, over the past month, the degree of internal swelling has decreased a tiny bit. Similar to before, as soon as I stop vigorous cardio exercise, I can breathe through my nose normally.
Bridge	The bump from the crushed cartilage graft has continued to decrease. As usual, the bump is slightly more noticeable on the right side than on the left side. To my surprise, when I gently touch the osteotomy area, I can feel just the slightest tenderness. I didn't expect there to be any tenderness left.
Detethering	I continue to feel a tingling at the base of my columella. The tingling feeling is constant and I think it's a little stronger than the previous month. As long as my smile remains normal, I'm happy.
Tip	The swelling on my left side above the nostril has decreased, and is now symmetric with the right side. My tip area has gained more sensitivity, and there is just a small amount of numbness left at the very tip and supra-tip area. My tip had softened significantly, and is becoming just a little bit pliable. It seems that the lower level cartilages are pliable, but the septum is rigid. A lot of refinement has occurred at the very tip. So much swelling has gone down, that I hope it doesn't refine much more because it might begin to look pointy again.
Other	I have continued taping my nose every night. I missed one night while away for the weekend. My nose was just a little swollen in the morning, but that was probably from having a few glasses of wine the night before.

Month 5 – 19-May-2002

Airflow	Airflow has remained about the same. Similar to the previous month, I have to breathe through my mouth when doing cardio exercise. However, it takes just a little longer before I have to start breathing through my mouth.
Bridge	The bump from the crushed cartilage graft might have decreased a tiny bit, or merely spread out over the area. Perhaps some of the graft spread towards the radix, because that area no longer seems as smooth as it had been. As usual, the bump is slightly more noticeable on the right side than on the left side. Just about all of the tenderness is gone from the osteotomy area.
Detethering	The tingling at the base of my columella has stopped.
Tip	The tip has continued to refine, but there weren't major changes in the past month as there had been in previous months.
Other	On my left nasal plane, near the dorsum, and below the nasal bone is a slight depression . Continuing from the previous month, the swelling on the left side went down. Unfortunately, it seems to have gone down too much and there is a depressed area that my right side does not have. In the nasal pyramid view from below, my nostrils are becoming a little more asymmetric. My right nostril is shorter and wider than my left nostril. The pic, however, makes it look worse than it actually is. I noticed the slight asymmetry in the previous month, but wasn't concerned by it because the tip area was refining. This month, the change is more noticeable, and it's not for the better.

Month 6 – 26-Jun-2002

Airflow	Airflow has remained about the same, which is fine. There was similar progess again when doing cardio exercise. Each month, it takes just a little longer before I have to start breathing through my mouth.
Bridge	Once again, the bump from the crushed cartilage graft has decreased a tiny bit. As usual, the bump is slightly more noticeable on the right side than on the left side. The slight bumpy area that I could feel near the radix has smoothed out. The tiny bumpiness can be felt, but not seen.
Detethering	Once in a great while (weekly?) I feel a very mild and brief tingle at the base of my columella.
Tip	The tip has continued to refine, and there seems that there's no swelling left. There is just a little numbness remaining, as well as a little firmness. The tip is far from having the original flexiblilty, but it has improved markedly.
Other	Sigh, the slight depression just below the dosum on my left side, between the nasal bone and tip seems to be staying. To be fair, however, it looks a little better than the previous month. It's not that noticeable, and doesn't show up in photos. Only Dr. Romano and myself would notice it. I have to remind myself that the goal of surgery was for improvement and not perfection, and I've had one heck of an improvement.

Month 9 – 18-Sep-2002

Airflow	During cardio exercise, I still have to breathe through my mouth at times. There has been continued inprovement.
Bridge	The slight bump from the crushed cartilage graft has remained about the same.
Detethering	The occassional tingling had stopped.
Tip	The tip has refined just a tiny bit more. There is still a little numbness remaining, as well as a little firmness. However, the amount of numbness and firmness has improved.